Abstract

At the beginning of the month, two brave souls tasted the first lab-grown beef burger in front of a live audience. Although their comments suggested the product was unremarkable - it was developed in a petri dish made by knitting together around 20 000 strands of protein cultured from cattle stem cells - I would still have raised my hand to be among that group of volunteers. I strongly believe there's a place in this world today for cultured products, vitamin-enhanced vegetables and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Before I get hanged, drawn and quartered, let me explain.